The Israeli air force once again attacked a command centre of the Palestinian militant organisation Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces said early on Monday.

The command centre was located in the Deir al Balah area in central Gaza, embedded within the Shuhada al-Aqsa hospital, the IDF said.

In the same area, the army had earlier said that it attacked Hamas command centres that had been located in a former school and a former mosque.

The information could not be independently verified.

The IDF said that numerous measures had been taken to reduce the risk to civilians before the “precise” attack.

According to the army, the command centres were used to plan and carry out terrorist attacks against Israeli soldiers and the state of Israel.

The IDF said this was another example of what it called the systematic misuse of the civilian infrastructure by Hamas, violating international law.

The conflict, which began exactly one year ago, started when fighters from the Palestinian Islamist Hamas militia and others invaded Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages.

Israel retaliated with massive attacks that have resulted in what the Hamas-run health ministry says are more than 41,800 people killed.

Hamas does not distinguish between militant and civilian deaths. The figures cannot be independently verified. 

(dpa/NAN)